Combating Compassion Fatigue

There is no question the War on Terror has been challenging for many families. Our civilian sector, made up of moms, dads, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, friends have shared in not knowing when, how or if a loved one will be returning; spouses have had to live with those same thoughts while holding down the home front, earning income and often caring for young children.

And then we have the caregivers. Chaplains, mental health therapists, marriage counselors, etc who have been on the frontlines of helping families stay together or keep grounded, sometimes at the expense of their own relationships.

According to the Pentagon, the divorce rate in the armed forces rose again in the past year and is now is a full percentage point higher than around the time of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

There were an estimated 27,312 divorces among roughly 765,000 married members of the active-duty Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps in the budget year that ended Sept. 30. That is a divorce rate of about 3.6 percent for the fiscal year 2009, compared with
3.4 percent a year earlier, according to figures from the Defense Manpower Data Center. In late 2001 the reported rate was 2.6 percent.

So how do we combat compassion fatigue…or perhaps relationship fatigue? The easy answer is to focus on improving communication and re-establishing trust, but sometimes its more complicated.

In the first quarter of 2010, OMF will be teaming up with local experts to discuss how exactly to combat compassion fatigue – this will be an event open to caregivers across the state of Washington and then offered to other states.

In the meantime, contemplate these old wise words: think from the other person’s perspective and gauge your reaction or response appropriately.